Charles Bloom illustration of a smart girl hiding symbols of her intelligence in hopes of appearing more attractive. The Kansas City Star 2007
I’ve seen catcalling happen too many times; in school, at the mall and even the movie theater. I thought it would be interesting to get an inside look on why boys do this, what they expect for a reaction, and how they think it makes girls feel. So, I found boys who’ve done this before to take a look at their perspective.
“You look nice,” is something one senior boy says he would say to a girl walking by. “I think she would say thank you, and since it’s coming from me, she should be flattered.”
Girls are not obligated to feel a certain way just because of
Not only do girls not feel flattered, but some feel uncomfortable. Boys, just imagine this: you are walking alone with a group of girls staring you down, maybe whispering, then yell at you saying “Aye, you! You’re sexy!” or, “Hey! Come here for a second!” I highly doubt that you, or even anyone would feel comfortable in that situation.
“Aye girl, come here,” is something one junior calls out to girls. According to him, it’s become routine.
“I think that [a girl] would feel cute because she’s getting attention,” he said. “My friends and I do it everyday.”
This almost sounds like a joke, “Aye girl come here,” as if she is a pet or some type of object. It is one thing to catcall and degrade students, but it is another to do it everyday! The main thing that stuck out to me while asking him questions was that he seemed like he was proud of doing it everyday. Disrespectful behavior is nothing to be proud of.
“[Hey] ma, let me get your number,” is another catcall one junior boy offered as something he yells at girls. “I think it would make her feel good.”
I’ve realized something that was common in all of the boys that I interviewed: they seem to think that whatever they’re doing makes the girl feel glorified or worshiped. And if the girls don’t feel that way, boys think that they should. What these guys don’t understand is that girls feel the exact opposite of that.
It’s surprising to see that one, they don’t see anything wrong with it, and two, they believe that the girls would feel good about it. You would think that in the middle of doing it, they would reconsider it and think about what they are really doing.
One senior girl says she ignores it every time it happens to her.
“I feel like they’re degrading women,” she said. “If they want to talk to me, they can call me by my name.”
